NICE rentals in Brentwood (Franklin, Nolensville: Valentine's day, real estate, apartment complexes)

[woodrough]

I have a job situation that has us considering moving to the Nashville area. We've done pretty extensive looking and research as far as which area we'd want to buy a house in, and Brentwood is our top pick (with a few areas of Franklin also in the running). However, we tend to like to rent for a while before buying in a new area (both to get a true feel for it, and to give us time to sell our previous place). I'm wondering if any of you have recommendations for how and where to find a really nice rental in Brentwood.

We live in a large house in a very nice neighborhood in CA now. I'm sure anything we rent is going to be an adjustment for us, but we want to make it as good of an experience as possible. Ideally we'd rent a house, but we're open to considering very nice townhouses/condos as well. In my research so far, the problems I've found are twofold:

First, the rents on the houses I've found have been more expensive than our CA mortgage, despite the fact that those houses sell for much less than what we paid for our house. My dream situation would be to rent in one of the neighborhoods we're thinking of buying in (e.g. Fountainbrooke, Bonbrook, etc.), so we can really see what it's like to live there. But for the few houses we've found for rent in that type of neighborhood, the rental rate is so out of whack it just doesn't make financial sense (we could probably afford it, but it feels like throwing money away).

Second, I've only looked at a few townhouse/apartment complexes, but none of them really seem like the "scene" we're looking for. We're pretty quiet people, don't party, etc. And I haven't really found any that are sufficiently close to the neighborhoods we'd be buying in. I really want to learn what the commute feels like, what the grocery shopping is like, etc. And living in a totally different part of town isn't really going to get us that.

Any suggestions?

[bspray]

I am surprised you found anything to rent in Bonbrook or Fountainbroook. I live in Willowmet and I am pretty sure our HOA doesn't let us rent.

Having said that, you almost certainly won't find anything to rent that nice in a decent price range. Nashville is experiencing a growth boom and there are limited rentals out there meaning everything is overpriced until building catches up to the growth. You might look in Bridgeton Park or Chestnut Springs. Neither of those have homes on quite the same level as Bonbrook or Fountainbrook but they are really close in proximity so you could get a feel for what the area is like. You might also check out a few homes in Nolensville. It is really close to that area of Brentwood and there are nice homes there that would likely fit your rental budget.

[woodrough]

Thank you, that's helpful. I haven't found any rentals in those two neighborhoods, I just meant I've found a few online that look (from the pictures and info) like they'd be in similar quality neighborhoods, similar size houses, etc. But I don't know the area well enough to tell which actual neighborhood they were in (the Zillow rental listings seem to often not say).

On that note, are there any good local sites to use for searching for rentals? Zillow isn't that great, and I've never had good luck with Craigslist and the like...

[bspray]

Realtracs.com is a good site for listing rental properties.

Here is a rental search for everything in the Ravenwood High School district.

RealTracs

[CountryGirl2b=]

Just curious as to what you were hoping to spend on a rental? Rent is normally more than the mortgage or the homeowner wouldn't be able to pay for upkeep, repairs, insurance, HOA fees, property taxes, etc. Might even be twice what the mortgage might be depending on the interest rate.

"I'm sure anything we rent is going to be an adjustment for us, but we want to make it as good of an experience as possible."

Sounds like you have some real concerns about moving to Nashville. Anything in particular?

[woodrough]

Our budget is somewhat flexible. Ideally I'd like to keep it around $2500 since we'll still be paying our mortgage. We could go above that if necessary (maybe up to $3500 or so) if we had to. But since moving is expensive anyway, I'd like to err on the side of cheaper if we can find what we need in that range.

I don't have any huge concerns about Nashville specifically. I just feel that moving across the country and buying a house is a big commitment, so I like to leave margin for error. I've lived in a lot of areas over the years, and I've found that it's truly impossible to know if you'll actually like a place or not until you've lived there for a while.

If I had to name any real concern, it would be the weather. I hate cold weather, and in California we don't get much of that, so I'm not sure I'll enjoy the winters here. Also I've been visiting over the summer and it's been much greyer and rainier than I'd like. But again, that's something I need to truly live with for a while to see if I can get used to it.

[N.Cal]

I moved from SF and almost died in the cold last winter. 16-20F is too cold. I also couldn't do any of the out side things that I like to do for about four months. I seriously almost lost my mind. This winter I will for sure be taking many trips through the winter this year.

[CountryGirl2b=]

I will PM you a couple of places to check about rentals. Even a one bedroom apartment here in a good area is $1,000 plus.

Yes, moving across country and buying a house is a big thing . . . and fair warning, a lot of Californians REALLY miss California . . .

"Winter" here normally goes from about Thanksgiving until Valentine's Day and last winter I only wore gloves a few days. It's not Tahoe or anything! This Spring/Summer has been very VERY unusually mild. February of 2012 we had 5 days of 90 degree weather. So far this entire summer we have probably had about the same. 100's are not unusual, sometimes for a few days in a row. Where in CA are you moving from? I lived in Long Beach, South Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, and Sacramento. Still have family there!

Your rental budget might go a wee bit further in Franklin? Here are some in your price range. McKays Mill is a fairly new development, close to shopping at Cool Springs and I-65.

RealTracs Real Estate Mid-South Search Results

[woodrough]

We'd be moving from Orange County. I have also lived in LA and Tahoe (I LOVE Tahoe in the summer, can't deal with it in the winter!), as well as many places outside CA. They definitely all have their own pros and cons. The price of houses here compared to CA is a very nice pro

[septimus]

It seems that most of the rentals I've seen lately are about $1/sq ft.